Archives & Photos
From GRPLpedia
Archives
The Archives, together with the Grand Rapids Local History & Genealogy Collection, form one of the largest collections of local and family history material in the state of Michigan. Included are more than 30,000 books and periodicals, plus holdings on microfilm. Collecting emphasis is on the Grand Rapids and Kent County area, with additional sources on Western Michigan, Michigan and the Old Northwest. County and state histories, atlases & maps, family histories & biographical information, census data, city directories, local newspapers on microfilm, and vertical files are just some of the items to be found.
Additionally, the Archives contain over 300 collections,including more than a million photographs and negatives, as well as original letters, business documents, videos, and other types of data related to area families, businesses & organizations. The Archival Collections are secured in a temperature & humidity control storage area.
Finding Aids
Over 360 finding aids make up the bulk of the Archives of the Grand Rapids Public Library.
A finding aid is a description of an archival collection, usually containing a history of the person or organization that produced the collection and an inventory of its contents.
Photos
Robinson Index
The Robinson Studio Collection (#125) is the largest archival collection held by the Grand Rapids History & Special Collections Department Archives. It contains more than 950,000 black & white negatives, with some accompanying photographic prints, containing Grand Rapids views, news, businesses & peoples from the 1930's to the 1960's.
Some indexing of this collection is available.
A sampling of this collection is available in our Online Photo Collection
